April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s ringgit fell the most in
a month as concern the global economic recovery is stalling
damped demand for riskier assets. Government bonds were steady.

Asian shares dropped today after reports this week showed
Chinese first-quarter gross domestic product and March
industrial production expanded less than analysts estimated. The
region’s largest economy was the No. 3 buyer of Malaysian goods
in February. The International Monetary Fund on April 16 trimmed
its worldwide growth forecast to 3.3 percent this year from 3.5
percent.

“There are growth concerns about the global economy and
fairly weak or non-existent risk appetite,” said Andy Ji, a
foreign-exchange strategist in Singapore at Commonwealth Bank of
Australia. “There are still concerns lingering about the
Chinese economy.”

The ringgit retreated 0.2 percent, the most since March 18,
to 3.0326 per dollar as of 4:22 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg. One-month implied volatility, a
measure of expected moves in exchange rates used to price
options, climbed 27 basis points, or 0.27 percentage point, to
7.44 percent.

Malaysian inflation quickened to 1.6 percent in March from
1.5 percent in February, matching the median estimate of
economists surveyed by Bloomberg, according to a government
report yesterday. Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to keep
interest rates on hold, at least until 2014, Deutsche Bank AG
said in a research note.

A sharp rise in the ringgit would not be good for Malaysia
and the currency and local stocks will plunge if the ruling
Barisan Nasional coalition loses the May 5 general election,
Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an interview yesterday.

The yield on the 3.26 percent sovereign bonds due March
2018 was at 3.16 percent, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.